


Good Things

by MoonRiver



Series: Reggie's Story- Reggie fics by MoonRiver [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Confessions, F/M, Feelings, First Kiss, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kissing, Past Alex/Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie-centric (Julie and The Phantoms)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:48:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28077978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonRiver/pseuds/MoonRiver
Summary: After a bad date, Flynn goes to the studio in search of Julie but instead finds Reggie, hanging out alone. The two share a heart to heart...and a little more.
Relationships: Flynn/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: Reggie's Story- Reggie fics by MoonRiver [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2056923
Comments: 23
Kudos: 80





	1. Bad Date/The Kiss

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Squeaky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squeaky/gifts).



> I am now officially obsessed with Reggie fics. That we learned basically next to nothing about him makes him that much more fascinating. I equal parts can see him being bisexual...and can see him as someone who never real got to figure out who they were. This fic is a gift to Squeaky(hope I gifted it to the right one, ha!) who requested a Reggie/Flynn story in which they both realize they are deserving of love.

Whenever Reggie was with the band, things felt like they couldn’t be going better. Well, maybe if they were alive…but for being dead, they were practically on cloud nine with success. Free of Caleb’s curse, they felt lighter, happier, and they had _bodies_ again. They were cautiously trying to figure out how to handle that last one. Julie wasn’t exactly sure how to explain to her dad that the holograms from Sweden that were actually ghosts were now ghosts with actual bodies and would just be staying in the house until further notice. They also were all secretly wondering just how stronger their powers would become. The boys noticed their visibility lasted longer and longer now after shows, and they didn't just need Julie there to be seen while they played.

In the meantime, Luke went to haunt his parents’ house more than ever- Reggie felt like he was purposefully hanging around and secretly hoping to be seen, without Julie being there. Alex was sneaking off more and more to find Willie, who was hiding out around Los Angeles from Caleb, who was MIA at the moment. They knew there would be a point he would emerge, seeking revenge on the ghosts that made a fool of him in front of his club, disappearing from his grasp and breaking an unbreakable curse. Reggie found himself feeling a bit like a third wheel. After recently finding out his abusive father was now dead and his mother had left him years ago and moved back home, states away, there wasn’t really anything else about his old life Reggie sought out. They had no extended family he was interested. His only true friends were here in the afterlife with him, and he hadn’t met his own ghost, like Alex. He wasn’t really exactly sure what was in his cards now, except for the music. Figuring he might as well make the most out of that as he could, he often just hung around the studio while the other two were out, strumming on Alex’s guitar or his old mandolin, that he managed to fix back up.

That’s how Flynn found him one Sunday afternoon. Julie was off with Luke, Alex was off in search of Willie, and he was writing a folk song on the old mandolin. He knew it would never see the light of day with Julie and the Phantoms- if it wasn’t Sunset Curve’s style it _definitely_ wasn’t JATP’s. But it still felt good just to write, for him.

He looked up at the sound of the garage doors opening and momentarily actually forgot that because he was playing, Flynn would be able to see him. His strumming slowed as she saw the state she was in; her face was streaked with tears, her mascara was stained beneath her eyes and her body shook ever so slightly.

“Sorry!” Flynn stuttered, already heading out again. “I thought Julie might be here. I couldn't reach her and thought you guys might be practicing.”

Reggie jumped up. It was in his instinct to feel a bit protective of others when they were clearly struggling. He’d been through it so much, with Alex’s parents and when Luke ran away from home. Helping others had always been the best escape from his own problems. He kept one hand on the mandolin, awkwardly thumbing at the strings so she could continue to see him.

“She and Luke are out…”

“Oh of course!” Flyyn replied knowingly, with a fake smile. “I’ll check back later.”

“No!“ Reggie wanted to reach out, but kept playing. “Sorry, um, it’s still the only way you can see me without Julie here.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“What I mean is…are you okay?”

It was an absolute stupid question. _Of course_ she wasn’t okay. But Flynn looked like she really needed someone to ask that to her.

Flynn forced herself to keep her fake smile as she waved her hand in the air, as though she didn’t quite know how to react.

“Yeah…no…I don’t know. I’m sorry, I just had a really bad date and was looking for my best friend. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“You’re not, I promise, come here.” He nodded over to the piano and she reluctantly followed him over. “This might be a bit less awkward?”

Reggie hadn’t played any since before his death, and he knew Julie would kill him- again- if she knew he were playing her mom’s piano, but she didn’t know that before she came along, if Sunset Curve needed any keyboards he would fill in. Flynn’s eyes widened in surprise as he easily picked up a sweet, melancholy melody.

“Reggie!” Flynn exclaimed gleefully, playfully hitting his shoulder. They both startled when her hand actually hit him. “Sorry, still getting used to that.”

“It’s okay,” he replied. He meant it; even if it was just a playful hit, it was nice just to be able to be touched at all. As a ghost even with his friends he often felt cold, lonely, hyperaware that a huge part of him was missing and that he should be able to feel some kind of warmth and closeness to others.

“I had no idea you could play.”

“I used to, a bit, enough to give us some chords if we needed them,” he confessed. “Don’t tell Julie. She’s _way_ better than me.”

Flynn rolled her eyes.

“And you play mandolin too. Why do I feel like there’s so much about you still I don’t know?” She teased.

 _Because there is,_ he thought. Though Flynn hung out with them quite a bit, and he was sure she looked them up plenty on the internet, this was really the first time the two of them ever had an actual conversation, just them.

“So…why the tears?” He asked carefully. “Did someone hurt you? Because for being a ghost, I really haven’t tried out the whole haunting people thing enough and I would be glad to help seek some revenge.”

The teenager shook her head, smiling sadly.

“No…not really. I just had a bad date, that’s all.” She stopped, as though that was all she had to offer; Reggie raised his eyebrows, suspicious, and she finally spilled: “Okay, so it was really my first like, _real_ date. And yes, I’m fully aware that my best friend has already had a steady boyfriend that she has already broken up with and now is clearly in love with a ghost, and I have just now managed to go on one lousy date. It’s not that impressive.”

Oh Flynn had no idea how close to home that hit.

He knew better and let her continue though, before getting into his own sad history.

“I finally had a real date, with this guy I thought I really liked, and it just went…it went weird.” Suddenly, Flynn looked very uncomfortable, and Reggie had a major flashback to a time he had a similar conversation with Alex. He had a feeling he knew where this was going even before Flynn did. “I dunno, I mean he was _so_ cute- and he was really sweet! I hit the jackpot. Then there was me, just hardly able to say anything the whole time. Once we were alone, I kinda wondered what I saw in him. I don’t know how to explain what I was feeling but it just…sucked. Even worse, he tried to kiss me and I just…backed away. Ugh, it was terrible! I’m such a dork. Now he’ll probably tell everyone that I wouldn’t kiss him and I’ll be a laughing stock by nightfall.”

It was…all a bit more than he thought Flynn would say. While he was used to be there for the guys, he wasn’t really the most apt at girl talk. Mostly because he talked to next to no girls back when he was alive and was therefore perpetually awkward around them. Luckily, he knew the key here was that Flynn just needed someone to listen. He didn’t have to have the most perfect advice.

He was surprised when she suddenly took over the other side of the piano that he wasn’t utilizing and picked up the melody she was playing. It was like he was aware that Flynn played music, after all she was in Julie’s class, but she seemed more comfortable just being behind the scenes and being their manager. Then again, they had never asked her to play, had they?

“It’s okay to just not be that into someone, you know,” Reggie offered. “Sometimes you just have to trust your gut.”

Flynn shook her head, clearly already knowing that wasn’t it.

“Yeah…it’s not just that,” she admitted. “I couldn’t even tell if I was really interested in him like…at all. We had this waitress girl who was really cute, and all I kept thinking about was how perfectly she did her hair and how I wished I could do eye makeup that looked that good and oh my god I can’t believe I’m talking to you about this.”

She quickly backed away from the keys, as though they were on fire. Reggie just chuckled.

“I have that effect on people,” he grinned as he kept playing. “Look at it this way, I’m dead. No strings attached right? If you need a confidant, I think a ghost is a perfect go-to. And…I’ve already been there with Alex and Luke, if it makes you feel any better. I might be able to help.”

They looked at each other, and her eyes widened.

“Wait…” she started slowly, understanding. “Alex _and_ Luke?”

He nodded, his lips forming into a bemused grin. He himself was impressed they had all kept it a secret for so long, that _that_ used to be a thing, and he was sure he could add this to the list of things he would surely be killed a second time over. But the important thing was that Flynn knew she wasn’t alone.

“That actually makes so much sense!” She exclaimed. Suddenly, tears were gone from her eyes all together as she laughed. And her laugh, he was surprised, actually made him shiver a bit. It was a beautiful laugh... “ _So_ much sense.”

“I know right?”

They shared a laugh as he waited for her to process and decide how to continue.

“I don’t really know, know…ya know? I mean, how do you even know? I do still kinda like him, even after the failure of a date. I’m just a bit…curious. I didn’t even think I was! I mean how have I been so super supportive of gay rights and had no idea that I might be a little bit…curious?”

Now he wished he had either Alex or Luke with him. Especially Luke…the king of playing both teams. Reggie was just the king of being a total dork.

“I could have actually had my first kiss!” Flynn whined, throwing her hands up in defeat. “Now I don’t even have any idea what I want, or how to figure that out, or who to tell. Maybe it’s a good thing Julie’s not here, she would probably think I’m crazy.”

Reggie shook his head; one thing he knew for sure was that that was a lie.

“Julie is the _best_ ,” Reggie insisted. “You know she’ll love you no matter what. Plus, she sees dead people. Something tells me this won’t sound all that crazy to her.”

Flynn looked a little less freaked out, and he felt a bit satisfied that he was actually able to be helpful to someone again.

“So Alex and Luke…” she finally said after a few thoughtful moments of silence. “Wait, does Luke even like girls, then? I don’t want Julie to get her heart broken. I mean, not that she won’t already when she comes to her senses because he’s, you know, dead. No offense.”

Rolling his eyes, he replied:

“None taken! And yes, yes Luke _definitely_ likes girls too.”

“So…do you know how they knew?” She asked. He liked that she had yet to ask him about his preferences, as though he somehow had ‘lost cause’ written all over him.

“They kissed each other,” he chimed in casually. Flynn practically squealed.

“Okay, that is adorable! How did we not know this? How long were they together?”

“Oh not long, only about a few months, before we all turned seventeen. They were fully broken up when we died.”

He was most definitely going to be killed again now. By Julie, then Luke, then Alex. Likely in that order.

“I don’t know if they would want Julie to know,” he confessed. “I just wanted to tell you because, well, you’re not alone. Being a teenager sucks. I don’t think anyone _knows_ how to figure this stuff out.”

 _Being a dead teenager sucks even more,_ he wanted to add. Though if he were being honest, he wouldn’t exactly want to be in Flynn’s shoes right now, even if he got to be alive. That was one thing he did not miss, figuring out feelings and romance. Seeing everyone else constantly gushing over girls and/or guys. Then there was Reggie, pretending like he understood what everyone was talking about.

Flynn began to play piano with him again, and they stayed like that for a few quiet moments before she finally remembered she never asked about him.

“So, what about you?” She asked, noticing him stiffen. “I mean, only if you want to talk about it.”

He appreciated the curtesy.

“I…” he trailed off, trying to decide how much to say. Would Flynn just run off and tell Julie? He didn’t exactly get the impression she was that type of girl, no matter how close the two best friends were. And after all, it would mean admitting why they were talking and all that was going on in her own brain. “I never actually went out on any date. Or…anything.”

God it was so painful to admit. Even her eyes just looked so sympathetic. Like it wasn’t bad enough that he was already dead, he was a dead seventeen-year-old boy who had never even been kissed.

“That…sucks,” Flynn finally said. Great, time for his own pity party. She quickly backtracked. “I mean…a lot of people don’t date a lot in high school, it’s really not that unusual. I almost wished I hadn’t started, I could have just lived in ignorant bliss and wouldn’t have to figure any of this stuff out.”

That…didn’t exactly make him feel any better either. At least Flynn still had the chance to figure it out while she was alive.

“I always felt a bit like the little brother, tagging along,” he confessed. “I was just so interested in the music, and I mean the other guys were too of course. God knows where Alex would be with his anxiety issues without drums to bang on, and the band was Luke’s whole life. But I also liked playing video games and watching sci-fi movies, comics…stuff people tended to leave behind once they were teenagers. Everyone was obsessed with dating and I really didn’t care. At the same time, Luke was writing these incredible songs, mostly about love and I…didn’t super understand, in the way they did.”

“You were just a late bloomer.” Flynn seemed regret saying it even as she said it. “Seventeen is still _really_ young. Sometimes I hear the stuff Julie and Luke sing and I’m like girl, should you really get that stuff already?”

He was so relieved to hear he wasn’t the only one. He had to admit, he did miss playing strictly rock sometimes. And he especially missed his country music. Maybe that’s why he loved country so much, he thought. It wasn’t necessarily all about love…it was about _life_. It was about having a shitty childhood and appreciating the smaller things in life. It could be about, well, anything.

“Totally,” he said with a grin. “And I don’t really regret it…okay, maybe some. I mean, I’m just a ghost now and have never even been kissed. Sometimes I just…wonder what could have been.”

“Of course you do,” Flynn said softly, placing a hand on his back; he jumped slightly at the touch and his breath hitched.

His playing slowed to just some soft chords and he found himself biting back tears. God he would _not_ break down in front of this girl, he promised himself. But just as harnessing the power to pick up and move objects was challenge, keeping his emotions in tact had been even more challenging as a ghost.

“I guess when I was a teenager…when I was alive…I just wasn’t that concerned because I figured, soon enough I’ll be out of high school. We’ll either be playing non-stop crappy club gigs all the time or I’ll be working some dead-end job. Probably both. I just wanted to enjoy being a kid as much as I could. Plus my home life…wasn’t great,” he made an executive decision that now was not the time to admit how horribly abusive his father had been, as if the mood needed to be brought down any more. Flynn seemed to understand, and didn’t press him for more. “I saw how terrible my parents’ marriage were, how awful Alex’s parents were and I just…didn’t have the best role models for relationships. I guess I always saw love as this thing that, inevitably, wouldn’t work out. People always got hurt. It just felt ridiculous to be dating around or experimenting with…anything. God knows I was terrified to bring _anyone_ home to my parents. At the same time Alex and Luke were really going through it with their families, I just felt like they needed me to be there. There was just always something going on. I just felt like a relationship was never going to be in the cards for me. I thought maybe, someday, when I was way older and I got my shit together, I could meet someone, settle down…but…someday never came.”

Somehow, he felt a bit ill. He knew that, even after sitting in that room of darkness for twenty-five years, he really hadn’t properly processed his own death. He just kind of acted like this was a continuation- and it was. Everything was just unfinished for him. But that was in the afterlife. His actual life, his opportunities, and potential family or kid…it was gone. And sometimes that just hit him so hard.

“I’m so sorry,” Flynn whispered. “I can’t even imagine…Julie and I are sixteen, the thought that… _that_ could be right around the corner…it terrifies me. And if I’m being completely honest, since meeting you guys part of me feels like I need to figure everything out right now, do as much as I can, because what if I die young too?”

They looked at each other, and Reggie just felt _so_ guilty.

“I’d never want you to feel that way,” he whispered.

“I know,” Flynn sighed, holding her head in her hands for a moment before confessing: “It’s like I both want to live as much life as I can and part of me is a bit afraid…I’m afraid to build everything up that I might lose. Carrie lost her mom, Julie lost hers, then you guys came along and it just feels a bit like death is everywhere lately. And I want to be okay with it, because I know there’s this weird, crazy, afterlife now. I know it’s just a part of life and it will happen no matter what. I know I can’t live my life in fear. But I’m trying to balance both living and…making sure I have no unfinished business.”

He wasn’t even sure how to respond to that. He wondered if Julie felt the same…god, how could they have been so selfish? Their story was _horrible_. Here they were acting like it was some big game.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, feeling helpless. “I wish we didn’t make you feel that way, you absolutely should not be afraid to live. You deserve to live your life. I guess that’s my biggest regret though…I never really felt like I deserved anything good. I felt like the band was the best I’d ever have, and most of the time I was terrified of losing that. I’m still trying to figure out what the whole point of my life was, the living part of it, if I’m being honest.”

Flynn gave his arm a comforting squeeze, and for the first time since the group hug when they realized they could touch, he felt a bit of warmth rush through him. Relief rushed through him; he was surprised just how good that felt.

“I think the point is you guys are amazing friends,” she stated. “Like, the best. Such good friends that it actually has gotten you through the afterlife together. Maybe there’s still some greater thing you’re supposed to be doing, maybe this whole band thing, being able to help Julie through this part of her life, is a part of that. I guess we both have to consider if we were meant to find someone in our teenage years, we would.”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “And hey, if Alex met Willie, and Luke has this weird human-ghost thing going on with Julie, maybe it’s still possible for me.”

“Totally,” Flynn grinned. “And if it’s possible, just know you absolutely deserve it. You deserved to both still be a kid and to explore growing up. You deserved better parents and to feel safe at home. You deserved to _live_ …but now that you’re here, you deserve the good things that will come from this too.”

Her eyes twinkled, and Reggie actually felt himself feeling inspired. Maybe, he decided, it was time to just stop mopping around the house. Maybe it was time to figure out this crazy thing called afterlife.

“Hey…” Flynn started suddenly. She stared intently at him, her hands holding a death-grip to the piano bench they sat on. Reggie felt himself shake with nerves, though he didn’t know why. She licked her lips. “Can I…try something?”

A new kind of warmth rushed through him, and against his better judgement, he nodded. He knew exactly what she was going to do, and though every ounce of common sense left at him shouted _no, bad idea, abort!_ The other half of him was _extremely_ curious.

How did Luke handle feeling this way around Julie all the time?

His body tense as he leaned closer to him, her hand slowly coming up to take one of his. They looked down, both still in a bit of awe at how it felt to be able to lock fingers. Carefully, her eyes wondered up to meet his, and he nodded again, giving permission before she leaned forward.

He wasn’t sure what he’d feel when her lips touched his. Part of him was terrified he would feel nothing.

What he didn’t expect was feeling like electricity was rushing through him…but in a _good_ way. He may have had no heartbeat, but he swore it was like he was forgetting how to breathe. Her fingertips tightened around his, and she knew Flynn felt it too. It was nothing like he expected. His brain was in overdrive, trying to figure it out and enjoy it at the same time.

Then as soon as it started, she backed away.

“Woah,” she whispered.

“Woah,” he echoed in agreement.

They stared at each other, both confused about what just happened…and both wanting it to happen again.

Reggie had to fight to remember to stay on the keys as he rushed forward, his lips smashing against hers again. He was relieved when she grasped his shoulders with her hands to steady him; he was certain he would have lost balance otherwise. He wasn’t even playing anything in a rhythm anymore, just mashing down on keys to stay visible as he dared to slip his tongue into Flynn’s mouth. He never felt more inexperienced in anything in his life, but as he raised his hand to her chest, he could feel her heart beating in a frantic pace that told him she liked it. She ran a hand through his hair and he shivered at the touch…it was the most he had been touched, most he had felt since dying and his mind, his soul, couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

If this was a pity kiss, it was a _damn_ good pity kiss!

All of a sudden Flynn backed away again, breathing heavily. She scurried away from him, jumping up before they could do anything else. He was a bit relieved to see she looked just as confused as he did.

“I am so sorry. I don’t know what that was. _Please_ don’t tell Julie. I’m uh…I’m going to go.”

A lopsided grin fell across his face; he could swear he could still feel her lips on his. She walked backwards a few steps, gazing thoughtfully at him, before turning away and breaking into an all out run away from him.

And Reggie…giggled.

He’d never made a girl so nervous she ran away from him before.

Though hands felt numb and his body was bursting with all kinds of energy and just feelings- his body didn’t know what it felt!- he found himself turning back to the piano, wiping his lips before he continued to play.

He wouldn’t be able to bet money on who was more confused at that moment, him or Flynn. He knew it was stupid. He knew it was nothing he should want to do again or nothing that he should give any time or hope to. He was aware that he was dead; he could hear Flynn’s own advice to Julie about falling for ghost Luke echo in his head. He knew Flynn deserved to date someone for real, to experiment, and figure out what she wanted. Hell, he didn’t even know if she really meant anything by it, if maybe she was just caught up in the moment and he pushed it too far.

He was aware they likely made a big mistake.

But…he couldn’t help but to relish in the electricity consuming him, the momentary feeling of just feeling utterly _alive_. Regardless of whatever the kiss had meant, at the least it left him feeling far less helpless and in mourning for his life as he had been earlier.

And after all…sometimes good things came from mistakes, right?


	2. Guy Talk/Girl Talk

Flynn ran.

She ran from a boy for a second time that day.

And this time she did actually have her kiss.

How pathetic was she?

She didn’t really have a game plan, so when she ran straight into Julie- thankfully alone, and not with Luke, and immediately grabbed her best friend by the wrist. Julie was mid-text, a sloppy smile on her face, but Flynn didn’t care.

“Your room, now!”

Flynn couldn’t be more grateful that Ray was with Carlos at baseball practice as she dragged her friend through her own house, making her own way as she raced up the steps and then shut them in the room.

 _Great,_ she remembered, _the ghost can just pop in._

Reason number 193485 why a relationship with Reggie wouldn’t work. Literally no privacy.

By now Julie had ditched her phone in her purse and wore an amused grin as she followed Flynn into her room and sat on her own bed. Flynn, meanwhile, paced madly.

“So the date went that…good? Bad?” Julie tried, guessing.

“Oh it went terrible,” Flynn replied breathlessly, rolling her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she knew she would have to come right out with the truth or this would be so much more painful. “Julie…I kissed Reggie!”

She slapped her hand over her mouth even as she blurted it out, and Julie jumped off of her bed.

“What?!” Her friend exclaimed, searching her face for an explanation. “Reggie?! What happened to…Logan? _What?!_ Start from the beginning.”

Julie sat both of them down on the edge of her bed, though Flynn was buzzing with energy and wasn’t sure how long she could keep still. Her lips were still tingling. She wasn’t sure if it was because she kissed a damn ghost or because it was her first kiss, but god she was just bursting.

“The date went terribly,” Flynn repeated, drawing in some deep breaths. She decided to hold off on confessing the whole not sure if she was gay part yet. One step at a time. “So I came back here looking for you, and I found Reggie instead.”

“You saw…?”

Her friend looked all kinds of confused, but she thankfully gave Flynn her space to explain.

“He played piano for me, so I could see him,” she explained. Julie opened her mouth, predictably offended, and she cut in: “Oh please girl, he was careful with and he was really good, by the way. He just offered to help. He just seemed so…melancholy.”

“He _is_ a ghost,” Julie offered, with a sad smile. “Flynn…”

Somehow, she had the feeling that Julie had the same fears for her falling for Reggie as she did her falling for Luke, and suddenly Flynn felt very stupid. Maybe Julie didn’t feel as strongly for Luke as she thought she did. Maybe their chemistry really was all in the music.

“He was just so sweet to talk to,” Flynn confessed. “And Jules, did you know he never went on a date? He never had his first kiss. There was just so much he thought he’d do, he was so young when he died.”

Julie gave her a bit of a sad look, like was Flynn really just realizing all of this now?

“I know,” Julie said softly. “And it doesn’t help that they’re so damn charming, right?”

Flynn’s lips turned up in a smile.

“We just…connected,” Flynn confessed, “in a way I didn’t expect. It wasn’t just a pity kiss. Okay, part of me did want to give him his first kiss right then, but it just felt _right_. I can’t explain. But Jules…damn it, I’ve fallen for one of the ghosts.”

Tears dotted her eyes as she welcomed her friend’s hug.

“Oh Flynn,” Julie sighed. “Welcome to the club.”

\-----------------------------------------------------

Reggie paced the studio, contemplating if he wanted to track down wherever the guys were or just keep waiting. The connection he had with the guys was insanely close, he could feel when they were together or a part. He could feel that Luke was back with Alex and now with Julie anymore. It felt like hours but it had only been a good half hour when the guys finally popped back into existence in the studio.

“Oh thank god!” Reggie exclaimed before grabbing both of the confused boys by the wrists and popped them up to the loft.

Alex and Luke landed on the futon while he resumed his pacing back and forth. They glanced at each other, both a bit confused and amused.

“Reg, you okay?” Luke asked.

He knew that it wasn’t in him to keep secrets from the guys. He was literally incapable of it. Personally, he was proud that he kept the secret about Alex and Luke all this time and…crap, he had almost forgotten that was another reason he’d be killed again today.

“I kissed Flynn!”

His hands flew to his hair, grasping at his hair as he closed his eyes shut tight, preparing for the guys’ reaction. No surprise, Luke was the first to exclaim:

“What?! Julie’s Flynn?”

“Dude, she’s going to kill you,” Alex chimed in.

Reggie dared to open his eyes and was a bit relieved to find that even as they were so shocked he would do that with Julie’s best friend they were both clearly highly invested in his newfound romantic feelings.

“I know,” Reggie sighed before flopping onto the futon between them. “She came back here after a bad first date looking for Julie. I was practicing, so she saw me. We had a bit of a heart to heart and…we kissed.”

He knew he was leaving out an _awful_ lot in between, but one step at a time.

But there was one other thing he should probably throw out there before the guys found out otherwise.

“Also…I might have told her about you guys…”

He closed his eyes, standing back and holding up his hands, expecting them to jump at him. Alex did jump but held his fist tightly at his sides.

“What?! Dude, we swore you to secrecy! We did a pinky swear!”

“I know!” Reggie suddenly felt all kinds of stupid over every decision he had made today. “But Flynn is…going through somethings, and I just thought it might help her to know she wasn’t alone in figuring things out.”

Well, could he have been even more obvious? Now he could even add Flynn to the list of people who would kill him again. Thankfully, at least the guys still had a bit of tact. Luke didn’t look like he knew what to think. He had never officially come out when he was alive, and it just hit Reggie that he might have actually outed his friend to the first person outside the band.

“Luke, I’m so sorry. It just sort of…came out…no pun intended.”

Luke glared at him.

_I should really stop talking now._

“Does Julie know?” Luke finally asked, his voice soft and uncharacteristically nervous.

“No,” Reggie shook his head. “I never told anyone about that, I’m really sorry.”

“Until Flynn tells her,” Alex cut in, throwing himself back down on the futon beside his ex. The two glanced at each other, and Reggie felt his stomach knot up with guilt. He hadn’t seen the guys look at each other like _that_ in ages. “What do you want to do? Are you going to tell her?”

Luke just shrugged, like it was nothing. Of course.

“I don’t exactly know how to tell her my best friend, who is a guy, is my ex,” he admitted. “But it’s okay, this isn’t about me right now. What are you going to do about Flynn? She’s a sixteen year old living girl, and you’re-“

“I know, a seventeen year old ghost,” he sighed, “and for the record, _she_ kissed me!”

His two friends raised their eyebrows, and he could understand, it wasn’t exactly like he had a lot of game back when he was alive. Girls weren’t exactly lining up to kiss him. Even to him, what happened was still a bit hard to believe, like a bizarre ghost dream.

“Okay, back up,” Alex finally said, putting his reassuring voice back on, which made Reggie actually feel a bit better. “So guys had a heart to heart, Flynn was figuring…stuff…out and she just kissed you?”

“Well…” Reggie rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. He had really not planned this very well, had he? “I did kind of tell her that I had never been kissed. Or even really dated. Or anything.”

“Ohhhhh,” his two bandmates said in unison.

Reggie felt like an idiot.

“So it was a pity kiss?” Alex suggested.

“Dude, that’s okay!” Luke chimed in, as if that was just that. “If I were a lifer and heard that sob story I’d probably kiss you too, it’s tragic.”

The bassist glared at him as his insides knotted up once more. Great, as if things weren’t confusing enough Luke just had to go _there_ again.

“It was more than a pity kiss!” Reggie exclaimed. “At first, maybe it was, but then it was like…deep. Like, with feelings. She was _holding onto_ me.”

Once again, the two exes glanced at each other, looking more than a bit concerned about their friend.

“Is it really that hard to believe someone would want to make out with me?” He shot. “Even after I died?!”

“No,” Alex finally sighed. “No, we just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Yeah,” Luke agreed, jumping to his feet. He put a comforting hand on Reggie’s shoulder. “Look, I get it. Maybe…maybe it is more than just chemistry between me and Julie. But I’m trying to be so careful because she deserves so much. More than just some dead guitar player.”

Reggie was well aware that he was dead, but even after saying it and going through reality in his mind so many times, there was something about the helpless way Luke stated that that really hit home. Even his best friend, who just had so many feelings and was clearly head over heels from this girl, knew better than to act. All it took was five minutes alone with a girl and he was useless.

“You’re right,” Reggie mumbled. “I should probably just not make anything of it. I wonder if I should just apologize or leave it…”

“Talk to her,” Alex advised. “Or it’s never going to not be awkward.”

“Yeah,” Luke said, “but be careful man, she’s practically our manager and she’s really good at it.”

Reggie flashed a smile, and he couldn’t help but to think to himself _Reginald’s got a crush on the band manager_!

There was a tone, and Alex took the cellphone Julie bought for them. It was just what she called a “burner” phone, just a cheap way to keep in touch. Alex had been deemed the one mature enough to manage it. Reggie had thought secretly she was too nervous to have that constant communication with Luke.

“Julie says Flynn went home,” his eyes flashed up to Reggie. “She thinks you guys should talk.”

The bassist swallowed nervously; even the guys looked nervous for him. He felt like he was going on a march to his death…again. But before he turned to poof away, he offered:

“Yeah…maybe you guys should talk to her too?”

The last thing he noticed was Luke hanging his head down low and Alex’s hand on his ex’s shoulder before he drew a deep breath and concentrated on disappearing to Flynn’s house.

He didn’t exactly expect to appear directly in her bedroom. Flynn was already changed into pajamas, making Reggie instantly even more uncomfortable, and lounging on her bed and madly typing on her phone. She nearly jumped mid-air and covered her mouth to keep herself from crying out to loudly.

“Reggie!” She hissed. “You can’t just do that to a girl! I could have been changing! Also, how I can see you?”

Looking down, it just occurred to him he didn’t have any instrument with him. Until now, he had only been visible to her if he were playing, even though he was corporal. Cautiously she approached him, and reached out, gingerly taking one of his hands to make sure it was real.

“I don’t know…”

She stepped away from him, looking even more freaked out than she did earlier when they were able to kiss.

“This is too weird. What’s happening to you guys?”

He could only shrug.

“It’s like ever since we escaped Caleb’s curse we’ve been stronger. Maybe these were just the ghost bodies we were supposed to have this whole time. We’re definitely not visible to everyone though…it’s almost like it takes an emotional connection.”

An awkward silence fell over them and his eyes darted around the room to avoid her. He couldn’t help but to take a little wonder around, noting her shelf full of awards for music, sports, even math.

“Hey!” Reggie grinned, pointing at an award for excellence in algebra. “I got this award too.”

Flynn smirked as she stood up to see what he was looking at, wrapping her arms protectively around her stomach.

“ _You_ won an award in math?”

“Yeah…please don’t tell the band. They still don’t know. Wouldn’t want to hurt my street cred.”

She let out a laugh, with a genuine smile at that, and he was grateful she didn’t tease him any further about it. While Luke hated school with a passion and Alex mostly spent his last year in school dodging bullies, Reggie was, well, surprisingly pretty good at it.

“Math was the one thing that made sense to me, you know?” He explained as he moved around her room. There were pictures of her and Julie, from all ages of life. He grinned at a picture of them dressed up as witches one Halloween, likely ten years ago. Then he saw her clarinet case. “Hey! Maybe we could use a good woodwind solo in one of our songs.”

“God no!” Flynn grabbed the clarinet case and hid in a closet. “How many pop songs do you know of that feature clarinet solos?”

“Scenes from An Italian Restaurant,” he immediately quoted. She just stared at him, and somehow it wasn’t all the new technology but that that made him felt oldest in age he had since dying. “…Billy Joel?”

Flynn just continued to staring at him, giving Reggie more reasons to realize the thought of the two of them being together was a mistake. After all, he was born in 1978 and she was born in _2004_.

“How old _are_ you?” Flynn teased.

The reality of the answer made his stomach sink. Sometimes it really didn’t hit him just how long it had been since he had been alive. Even seeing all the phone and laptops didn’t do it. It was moments like this, realizations that he was just simply from a different time.

“Technically, 42,” he admitted. Flynn whistled, and a quiet moment passed as both considered just what a mess they had gotten themselves into.

“Look, Reggie,” Flynn finally said, carefully taking his hands. A shiver went up his spine; he was still getting used to actual touch again. Her touch actually felt somehow stronger than before, and he had to fight to not react. “It was really stupid of me to just get caught up in the moment like that. I’ve never done anything like that before, it’s not who I am!”

He suddenly found himself wishing that Julie was there to guide him through this. She’d know exactly what he should say. Reggie was definitely something that knew how to help everyone else, but when it came to speaking from his own heart, about himself, that was harder. Ironically, considering he was a musician.

 _You’re dead, no strings attached,_ he reminded himself. He winced as he could even hear Caleb’s voice echo in his head _“You’ve got nothing to lose!”._

Maybe it was time to really be himself.

“Flynn…meeting you and Julie, it’s like the best thing that’s happened to us, I swear. You guys have really just brought out this spark in us, in our music, and you’ve definitely have made this whole transition to being ghosts thing just way easier. I can’t tell you how much I wish Alive Reggie had a friend like you.”

A genuine smile crossed Flynn’s face, and he was grateful he was talking to a teenaged girl mature enough to get it.

“Aww, thanks Reggie.”

He drew a deep breath and made himself look her in the eye as he continued. As scared as he felt, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what she was feeling as a living, breathing, teenage girl who just had her first kiss with a _ghost_.

“Obviously…that brings up a whole new problem. I don’t really get how we can touch, or how I feel things. I never know if it’s just in my head or if it really is real. But that kiss…it felt real. I _know_ it was real. And I don’t know what that means, which terrifies me.”

“It…doesn’t have to mean anything,” Flynn offered casually. She was still forcing herself to smile, though Reggie could sense her disappointment, and he felt it to.

An empty silence fell between them, and he could feel they were both left wanting more. It was an awful feeling nagging, fueling an uncomfortable energy in him that he knew wouldn’t leave until he…he…

Leaned forward without thinking, without allowing himself to think, his lips found hers once again…and she didn’t seem to mind. Not even as they deepened the kiss, her breathing heavily, him feeling like he properly couldn’t breathe anymore more than any other moment in his death.

Then they broke apart, and it was like instantly he knew it was a bad idea again. The look in her eyes was a pure craze, like she didn’t have any earthly idea what she was doing.

“We really have to stop doing that,” Flynn said, holding up her hands.

“Yeah,” Reggie breathed, running a hand through his hair. “Ghost and lifer…it can’t work, right?”

“How about this?” Flynn said, pointing toward the door. _Great, she’s going to throw me out…wait I’m a ghost, can I be thrown out??_ “I’ll stand on this side of the room, you stand on that side, and we’ll talk this out.”

He nodded. Yes, space. Space…because even though he shouldn’t be able to smell he definitely was only taking in the coconut scented lotion she wore and the cherry of her Chapstick. He poofed to the other side of the room, and he most definitely caught her impressed grin.

_Ghost Reggie’s got game!_

“Have you met any ghost who have relationships with the living?” She asked.

“Not that I know of,” he admitted. “I can ask Willie but…”

“I barely know you,” Flynn finished for him. “I really just don’t run around kissing guys. Look…for the record Julie thought that I should actually get to know you a bit better. Then maybe we can figure out what this even is.”

Getting to know each actually sounded quite fun to Reggie. It wasn’t like there was a lot of opportunities to meet people as a ghost, and the few he had met were quite reserved.

“That sounds amazing,” he blurted out, “maybe we should like…just sit or something?”

Flynn looked around, as though she forgot she was in her own room, and they settled for just sitting cross legged on the floor. Seemed safer than sitting on the bed.

“So…” Reggie looked around for some kind of inspiration for where to start. “Clarinet, huh?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Please don’t start with that,” she warned. “How about…tell me about your family.”

Reggie winced.

“Can we not start with that either?”

“Oh…” Flynn fell silent, like she suddenly realized what a can of worms she was opening.

“Sorry,” he quickly offered. “Just…in a nutshell. My dad sucked, Alex’s dad sucked even more, Luke’s parents were okay but he was a bit a bit of a rebel, we all had a band and lived in a garage at seventeen years old so…maybe not the most exciting family story to start with.”

“Right,” Flynn nodded, though she looked absolutely in over her head.

What was he doing? Clearly, he absolutely wasn’t anywhere close to good enough for a living teenage girl who won all these awards, had just the best personality, great, friend, totally loyal and honest…

All of a sudden Flynn smiled, as though she finally figured out where their conversation should go.

“So how much do you know about the current music scene?”

That was how, three hours later, he found himself laying on top of Flynn’s bed beside her- on top of the covers, thank you very much- with something she called an earbud in one ear while she listened in the other, singing along under her breath. He was in complete awe of her taste and knowledge of music. She might not have known about Billy Joel, but she knew not only most of the classics, so much about Prince…which started a whole conversation about the possibility of meeting celebrity ghosts…and all the latest pop hits.

“Beyoncé’s amazing,” Reggie announced, his hands tucked comfortably behind his head. “She’s officially my favorite.”

“I think you’d like Lady Gaga too,” Flynn smiled. “Man Reggie, it’s like you were made for this generation. I think you were born in the wrong decade.”

He wasn’t really sure what that said about him, but he took it as a compliment.

“If you asked me like a year ago…or, twenty-six years ago, I guess, if I’d be sitting in 2020, listening to a million pop songs on a tiny computer, I would have thought you were insane. Ohhh…who’s Coldplay?”

He pointed at one of the suggested tracks, one of the first ones that looked like were an actual band and not a solo artist.

“No!” Flynn insisted, quickly scrolling to the next group. “We are so not jumping from Beyoncé to Coldplay.”

They laughed, though he didn’t have any idea what that meant. No wonder Julie was such an incredible musician, with so much talent to pull inspiration from, so many resources literally right at the tip of her fingers, it was like she was born to be a star in the 21st century.

The album ended, and Reggie couldn’t help but to notice the time on the computer turn to midnight. He wondered if she really would have to throw her out- where were her parents, anyway? He noticed when they agreed to avoid family talk, she didn’t exactly offer any mention of hers. And there weren’t any pictures of her parents in her room.

“Reggie…about twenty-five years ago…” Flynn started slowly, carefully glancing up at him to test the waters of a clearly heavy topic. She rolled over on his side and he did the same. “You guys said you were just in a dark room, and it didn’t feel like you were in there a quarter of a century. What do you mean? What did it feel like?”

His eyes fluttered closed and he drew in a deep breath, just for comfort. He felt her warm hand wrap around his ice cold wrist, and he was able to ground himself a bit better. Truth be told, his memories of that room were something he had pushed deep down, hidden and locked away with a key. Some days he couldn’t believe he really survived that.

Finally, he opened his eyes, relieved to find more comfort in gazing into her eyes.

 _She’s so welcoming,_ he thought, _like a walking, talking hug._ She truly had this warmth, like he could say anything to her and it wouldn’t phase her.

“It was just…emptiness. We didn’t have an idea what was going on.” He drew in another deep breath, remembering how when they first appeared there Alex was freaking out worse than he ever had before and Luke kept muttering something about needing to call his mom. “We actively knew we were dying, in the ambulance. I died first.”

“Oh my god,” Flynn whispered. Carefully, she brought her other hand to rest against his cheek. He cherished the feeling.

“Yeah…” he breathed. “I appeared there first, I just thought maybe I blacked out or was in the hospital or something. Then the other guys appeared and Luke…Luke had watched us all die. He heard them call time of death.”

“Oh my god,” Flynn repeated, this time sounding a little more like she was going to be sick.

“I’m sorry, this is really deep stuff,” he warned. She looked so sorry for him, and so afraid to hear what was next but she nodded, as though to say I asked for this. “Then after the emptiness, after the confusion, it was just…heartache. We thought we were maybe in hell. Then just all of a sudden there was this tugging sensation, and we were back in the studio. In 2020.”

He hoped he could bring them back around to a happier memory, but Flynn was clearly too caught onto the idea of an actual hell.

“So do you think it was like purgatory?” She asked. “And now you’re here to figure out your unfinished business and decide if you get to move on?”

Shrugging, Reggie realized he had never really looked at it that way. He wondered if 2020 had any movies or TV shows about purgatory or the afterlife. That was always the best guidance for this kind of thing.

“Maybe,” he replied simply. “We really haven’t talked about that room since we escaped.”

“I guess not!” Flynn said with a sigh. “Reggie…I’m so sorry.”

“Please,” he was feeling a bit too choked up for a ghost. He settled further into the pillows and focused on the touch of her hand against his. “It just…is what it is. I mean, being a ghost does have its perks. We do the weird teleportation thing. We can hang out with basically anyone we want to without being seen. And I get to be a dashing seventeen year old for all eternity.”

He threw her a goofy grin and was relieved when she laughed.

There was suddenly the sound of a knock at the door and the two both jumped up, wide-eyed.

“Flynn?” The door pushed open, and Reggie was anxious to see who was behind it. He was a bit confused when the woman looked more like Flynn’s older sister, maybe 25 years old tops, than a parent. She wore scrubs and the tired face of a hospital worker who had just worked a twelve-hour shift.

“You okay? Who are you talking to?”

An odd sadness fell over Reggie as he realized whoever this was would have no idea who he was, even though Flynn had this new connection to him. He still couldn’t be seen. At that moment he knew, he had to stick with reason. This would never work.

“No one, I was just…praying.”

The other woman gave Flynn a funny look and her eyes darted around the room one last time, clearly looking for any unwelcomed overnight visitors. Reggie resisted the urge to turn the lamp on and off to signal his presence. She finally closed the door again, and Flynn turned to him, her eyes a bit wide with shock.

“So…that was Ciara, my sister,” she explained. “She’s basically my guardian.”

Oh. He was suddenly getting why it was so easy for Flynn to hang around Julie, who was mourning her mother, and three guys mourning their own lives. And why she was asking him so much about death.

“My mother is still around,” she said quickly, reading his fear in his eyes. “…sometimes. My father is god knows where. Julie’s dad is more of a father figure than he ever was.”

Reggie’s eyes lit up, happy that someone else got that about Ray.

“Ray’s pretty amazing! I mean, from what I’ve seen. My father was…not so great either.”

More silence. He was getting the feeling this was when he should go.

“Thanks so much for the music lesson-“

Before he could continue, she kissed him again. For a _long_ moment. And he felt insanely uncomfortable, in a girl’s bed, doing this, when they didn’t even know…anything…

When they broke apart, she breathed quietly for a few moments before her eyes reached up to meet his.

“I really enjoyed getting to know you,” she whispered. “I don’t exactly know why I keep kissing you but being with you is just…comforting.”

His eyes widened; that was the last way he expected anyone to describe being with a ghost.

“This might possibly be the most confusing day of my life,” Flynn confessed.

“Same!”

They both laughed; he was so grateful he was not the only one.

“I should get going,” he finally said, making to get up. He carefully stayed a few feet away from her, though he was anxious for one last kiss. “The guys, they’ll be wondering.”

“Right!” Flynn’s eyes flashed with terror, as though she didn’t even realize they would eventually have to confront the guys. “So, this leaves us…”

Reggie hesitated before answering. If he were living, he knew exactly what he’d say. Then again, if he were living, he probably never would have had the nerve to lay down in bed with her, listen to music so long with her, spill out his soul like that, kiss her like that…

“I really like you, Flynn. _Really_. It’s stupid we never talked much before today. I really liked getting to know you better too. But…you deserve the world. More than me, at least! You’re sixteen years old, you’ve got to live, you can’t just be afraid of death just because of us. You can’t just pity us. You should go to prom and have college boyfriends, get married, have kids…not just sneak around with some ghost.”

 _God she just looked so shaken._ And just like that, all in one day he had fallen for a girl, won her over, and broke her heart. Somewhere, his actual body was rolling over in its grave.

“I have a grave somewhere,” he breathed. “I really want to…and I don’t get why this feels so real. But one day, it might not…we might just be gone. I don’t have any idea what’s going to happen to us.”

“I know all of that,” Flynn pointed out calmly. “I know the reality…I also know how I feel. So maybe, we can just be really good friends? Ghost Reggie deserves good friends too, you know?”

He blushed; he had really not thought about intentionally expanding his friend circle in death, but maybe she was right. Unfinished business. Time to have as much of a life as he possibly could in the afterlife.

“Kissing you just feels…right,” Flynn reiterated. “And I think after today I’m definitely putting off living people dating for awhile, I’m just not ready for that yet. So maybe…we can just be good friends, who kiss sometimes? Is that weird?”

Reggie shrugged.

“It seems like anything goes in 2020,” he teased. “Why not?”

 _Because you’ll get hurt_ , a voice echoed inside his brain, but he pushed it away. He could get hurt…he could also disappear for good tomorrow. So truly, why not, if it’s what she wanted?

“Right,” Flynn nodded. “Why not? Course, we should maybe tell Julie we’re just friends. I know she’s confused about how she feels about Luke, and this is maybe not the example I should set for her.”

“Agreed! They just ooze chemistry, don’t they?”

“Yes!”

He was ecstatic when Flynn didn’t argue- it _so_ not just the music, no matter what Luke tried to prove to him. There was something there.

“Goodnight Reginald.”

Happiness rushed through him as she leaned forward one last time, this time her lips gracefully brushing his cheek. Instead of tensing, he already felt much more relaxed in her presence, and he dreaded having to go. But he knew he couldn’t haunt here forever. He forced himself to disappear, instantly reappearing in front of his awaiting bandmates in the studio. Alex has been drumming on the coffee table, while Luke just looked…worried. He looked worried!

Reggie was secretly pleased with himself. He wasn’t normally the one to sneak around or hang out by himself at all, for that matter. It felt nice, being the one to have something good going.

“Reginald!” Alex taunted, pointing an accusing drumstick toward him as they got to their feet. “What sort of time do you call this?!”

“We thought you were lying in a ditch somewhere!” Luke mocked, crossing his arms.

His friend’s concerned face broke into a grin as he saw the state he was in.

“Reginald!” Luke echoed. While the name sounded sweet coming from Flynn, he hated when the guys used his full name. It was always in a mocking, mean older brother, tone. “Flushed lips, hair disheveled- are you blushing?!”

He backed away as Luke brushed his hands through his hair, trying to straighten it out.

“Please tell me you didn’t…” Alex started, too bashful to even finish his own sentence.

“No!” Reggie exclaimed, horrified his friends would think he was that kind of guy. “No, Flynn and I just had another very nice heart to heart, she introduced me to some fantastic music- have you heard of Beyoncé, by the way?- and we may have shared a kiss…or two…or three…”

The guys both chuckled, impressed.

“So that leaves you guys…?” Luke asked.

For once, Reggie considered that he had actually figured something out about romance that Luke hadn’t. Luke hadn’t had the first idea what to do with his feelings about Julie, to the point where he still seemed in a bit too much denial about them.

“Just friends,” he replied firmly, then confessed: “Friends who just…kiss sometimes. But we’re not telling Julie. Flynn’s request.”

“Great, exactly how a band should behave. Keeping secrets and sneaking around with the lead’s best friend,” Alex sighed. The other two stared at him, wondering if he really didn’t see the irony. “That was different! We just met Julie! We’re haunting her studio, she’s the only person getting us through this!

“We’re going to tell Julie,” Reggie backtracked. “Just not about the kissing part, not right away. Flynn’s not ready to date _anyone_ yet, and I promise I told her that she deserves just so much better than Ghost Reggie.”

His friends’ faces both fell, and they exchanged worried glances.

“Reggie, you deserve good things,” Luke pleaded. “Maybe this is a bit…risky…but we were given this chance of an afterlife, so we might as well make good with it. I don’t think it’s wrong if you guys…mess around. Just, be careful.”

The term mess around sent shivers up his spine; he was really not trying to think that far ahead. Could ghost even…do that?? If they could kiss, surely? But if Flynn wasn’t ready to date anyone, he certainly wasn’t going to belittle her by even daring to go there, even in his mind. He really wasn’t that kind of guy.

And also…who was Luke to talk??

“What I mean is, I told her she deserves to have an actual boyfriend, that she can go to dances with, graduate with, get married to, grow old with…I’m not stupid, I know we can’t have that. This is just all so new- she could just now see me without me playing!”

“Really?!” Luke’s eyes lit up, and Reggie’s heart ached as he knew he was thinking of the possibility of being seen by his parents. “How? What did it feel like?”

The three sat back down on the futon as he tried to even begin to collect his thoughts on how _that_ felt.

“It’s like, we have this strong emotional connection, and that’s how,” he confessed. “That’s the best way I can describe it. Even earlier today, she could only see me when I was playing.”

“She has also mostly seen you when you’re playing,” Alex pointed out.

“True.”

“It makes sense though…” Luke started, but his voice trailed off.

They didn’t press him for more, Reggie knew Luke had been contemplating the idea of playing a song for his parents and being seen. He hadn’t explicitly talked about it, but how could that not be constantly on his mind?

“So,” Alex finally spoke up after a long moment of silence. “Who was this Beyoncé person you mentioned?”

Reggie broke out into a grin.

“You guys have no idea what we’ve been missing in music!”

“I know,” Luke chimed in. “Did you know the Stones are still touring?”

“No way!” He and Alex exclaimed at the same time.

“Yeah, and Queen has a new front man!”

Alex took out the phone Julie had given him and pulled up some music software she had told them they should check out. They had just been so caught up in making their own music again, and so mournful of this life they’d never live, that they hadn’t yet to have delved into _new_ music.

It was one of the best nights Reggie could remember in a long time. They were still up at 7am, when Julie came in to check on them before heading to school. She walked in as they were figuring out a Coldplay cover to “Fix You”. As Luke finished out the chorus, they looked up to find Julie grinning madly at them.

“Okay, Coldplay covers are not going to become a thing for this band,” Julie announced. “Also, I was like one when that song came out.”

“Christ I’m old,” Luke mumbled as she reached up to hug him.

She turned to Reggie next.

“Don’t get too comfortable behind those keys,” she warned him.

“No worries,” he grinned at her.

She offered him a quick hug before searching his eyes, concerned, looking for any explanation about the day before.

“Are you and Flynn okay?”

He nodded, throwing a glance toward the guys, silently pleading with them to not share too much.

“Yup. Just friends. We had a great talk.”

 _Really good friends,_ he thought happily to himself.

“Good!” Julie replied, satisfied.

She seemed to subconsciously slip closer to Luke, and he could tell the two were itching to hang out a bit before she had to leave. He looked up to Alex, who nodded in understanding.

“You know…maybe you two should talk too,” Reggie suggested. He winked at Luke, who only glared back at him, horrified.

“Yeah, we’re going to go scope out some new venues to try to gig at,” Alex chimed in.

They most definitely weren’t going to be that productive at 7am, but he had a lot of hope as they disappeared away that this conversation would be good for Julie and Luke.

“Hey,” he said to Alex as they poofed onto a nearly empty boardwalk. “Can you text Flynn for me?”

“Sure. What should I say?”

“Just tell her Reggie says hi. And to have a good day at school.”

Alex rolled his eyes as he took out the phone.

“You, my friend, are absolutely screwed.”

Reggie sighed happily. Even as he stared out to the calm morning ocean, there was just a freshness about the air he was finding himself able to appreciate. It truly, really didn’t matter to him if he had a lifer girlfriend or not. Just having any new friend felt nice.

But if he dared to allow himself to be absolutely honest, he knew…

“Yeah, I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I would love to know what you thought. I've just been obsessed with JATP fic lately, writing has definitely gotten me through what would have otherwise been just a really down week. Got another fic up my sleeve coming up soon...happy holidays to all!

**Author's Note:**

> If you're reading this, you deserve good things! I think this is going to be two chapters, maybe three, and I'm officially starting a Reggie-centric collection. If you have any requests, let me know! :) I would love to know what you think!


End file.
